


Friends (I watched us as we changed)

by tryalittlejoytomorrow



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3747163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryalittlejoytomorrow/pseuds/tryalittlejoytomorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She and Bellamy become friends on a Wednesday, and Clarke swears she's lost hearing in her right ear from the way Jasper is screaming over the phone exactly thirteen seconds after the notification appears on her Facebook timeline.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(modern day, social media AU. In which Clarke and Bellamy become friends, and the rest of their friends act like all their wishes upon a star have come true.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends (I watched us as we changed)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jenye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenye/gifts).



> This is a birthday present for the lovely Jenye, whose weakness for social media AU gave me the inspiration to write this fluffy, ridiculous huge monster. 
> 
> Happy birthday, sweetheart! I hope you enjoy it, and the rest of you, too. :)
> 
> Title from Lauren Aquilina's Fools.

She and Bellamy become friends on a Wednesday, and Clarke swears she's lost hearing in her right ear from the way Jasper is screaming over the phone exactly thirteen seconds after the notification appears on her Facebook timeline.

"You're dating Bellamy?!" Jasper's excited voice greets her instead of a hello, and Clarke tries to stop him but he keeps rambling, "Oh my God, I knew it! I've called it since, like, _forever_! I need to call Monty, he's out on a date with Nate but this is so much more important. He's gonna be so pissed he missed -"

"Jasper," Clarke scolds him with that tone that earned her to be nicknamed _Mom_ in their little group, "I'm _not_ dating Bellamy. As in, _I am not dating Bellamy_ ," she repeats to make sure he gets it.

There's a silence followed by a little _Oh_ and then Jasper screams again. "You guys did it?!" he half-asks, half-deafens her.

"Jasper! What the hell?!" Clarke screams back at him, her mouth opening and closing in a frozen gasp. "I did not sleep with Bellamy, stop it! We're just friends! Like you and Bellamy. Do _I_ go around asking you if you hooked up with him?" she tries to taunt, but Jasper isn't having any of it.

"Stop trying to change the subject, Griffin," Jasper says, using her scolding tone against her. "You and Bellamy. Official friends, huh?"

"I'm not sure _Facebook_ is the high authority on formalizing relationships," Clarke argues with a sigh as she lifts a hand to rub at her temple. She loves Jasper, she really does, but sometimes she feels like she is - and admittedly, Bellamy, _too_ \- the only _real_ adult in their group.

Jasper chuckles. "So you're calling it a _relationship_ now. Interesting." She can just imagine him rubbing his chin like the idiot he is - Clarke knew it'd be a bad idea when he and Octavia decided to take that Psychology class this semester.

"Oh, shut up," she groans, and she hears him laugh and say something like _very mature, Clarke_ , but she ignores him. "He's almost never on anyway, and when he is, we usually just argue over Octavia's status and I realized we weren't actually friends so I figured it was time to be, okay? No big deal."

"So _you_ made the first step? That's my girl!" Jasper all but _squeals_ , and Clarke wishes Monty were here to calm him down - his best friend and roommate is probably the only person who truly understands what goes on in that crazy mind of his.

Clarke rolls her eyes at his excitement as he keeps babbling - Jasper can be _ridiculous_ sometimes, just like when they binge-watched that sci-fi dystopian show during Christmas break. The roads had been covered in ice, campus snowed in, so they had all huddled together beneath a pile of fuzzy blankets in her and Raven's dorm to exchange gifts and drink hot cocoa for a week. It had been kind of perfect in an unexpected way, because none of them were eager to go home or even had a home to go back to - she'd learned very early on that Octavia and Bellamy were each other's only family, but now they all had each other. After a couple of days building snowmen and playing cards - Raven and Bellamy were the best at poker, up until the moment when a tipsy Octavia had suggested they switched to strip poker and then nobody had wanted to play anymore - Jasper and Monty had suggested they watched that show they'd heard about that was now available on Netflix, and then everybody had proceeded to gush over just how much the two lead characters were like she and Bellamy from episode one.

_He threatened to cut off her hand!_ _He hates her!_ Clarke had argued at first, but Jasper had just shaken his head at her like she was an idiot and then started tearing up at the way the guy was looking at the girl as she mercy-killed one of their friends. _It's like she's an angel sent from the heavens to save him and everything she does is magic_ , Octavia had romantically phrased. Bellamy had remained mostly silent, just snorting every now and then at their friends' comments before offering to make those legendary Blake cookies, gently draping the blanket he and Octavia shared around her and dropping a kiss on his sister's forehead, his gaze falsely annoyed and a lot fond before he disappeared.

Clarke had ended in the small kitchen area across the hall with him shortly after, fed-up with her _not-so-dear in that moment_ idiots. Even Raven had betrayed her - _you gotta admit there's some serious sexual tension over there, Griffin_ \- and Clarke was sure that her roommate _wasn't_ talking about the characters in the show, so like the grown-up she was, she'd decided to flee. Bellamy had given her a small smile - a rare occurrence from him, who only ever directed smirks at her - as she hoisted herself up on the kitchen counter, dipping a finger in the cookie mix. "Your sister's crying and Jasper lost his dignity sometime around episode seven."

Bellamy had snorted, more amused at their friends' antics than he'd ever admit. "What happened now? Did they kiss?" he'd asked, swatting at her hand.

"Not even close," Clarke had laughed, sticking her tongue out at him before popping her finger in her mouth to taste the mix. "She told him she needed him after calling him a total ass. Of course, they're refusing to acknowledge _that_."

"Typical. O's always been a sucker for tragic love stories. She can recite _Romeo and Juliet_ by heart."

"That's because _you're_ the nerd who read it to her when she was a kid."

They'd kept bantering like that for a while, easy and good-natured when things had been strained and cold between them in the very beginning; the Dark Days, their friends called it, when Bellamy had almost instantly hated her for something she wasn't responsible of and Clarke had refused to let herself be intimidated by his dark gaze and frown and the angry set of his jaw. There had been a lot of angry shouts and both said things they'd regretted in the aftermath, until they agreed to make an effort, if only for Octavia's sake who shouldn't have to suffer from one of her new best friends and her brother glaring at each other every time they were in the same room. Strangely, after they'd settled on that agreement, everything had gone pretty smoothly between them, and the original animosity had given room to the banter and bickering that took place both in real-life and over Octavia's comment section.

She'd known Monty and Jasper since they were kids, even though they'd kind of drifted apart for years before reuniting again in high school, coincidentally at the same time the whole He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named debacle happened. Clarke had lost a boyfriend but gained a best friend then, and they'd all sat down together, heads bent over college applications, same grin on their faces as they'd all applied to the same schools.

Jasper had met Octavia first in one of their shared classes and sat down at lunch with them after, dazed eyes and giddy smile, proclaiming he was in love. Octavia was a bundle of energy, fun and fierce and feisty, and she'd hit it off immediately with the rest of their group, giving them warm hugs and proclaiming they were going to be best friends forever. She'd just recently moved into town with her older brother who'd transferred schools just to follow her to her dream school and their childhood friend, and Clarke had been a little excited, she had to admit it, to meet this selfless, adorable Bellamy Blake - maybe also because Octavia had _reluctantly_ admitted that her brother was good-looking.

Yeah, right. He was downright _hot_ , all right, with his olive skin and that mop of messy dark curls and those _freckles_ , Jesus Christ. But if Octavia had told them about his protective streak that could make him sound like an entitled jerk sometimes, she'd _failed_ to warn Clarke about the fact that her brother could be an _asshole_. He'd decided to hate her before even knowing her, just because unlike the rest of them Clarke had a mother who could pay for everything when, she learned it later, Bellamy and Octavia had struggled their whole lives, Bellamy taking the worst of it to protect and raise his sister.

It was weird to think that, _now_ , barely six months later, Bellamy was one of her closest friends, the one she knew she could go to and sit down and talk seriously with if needed, but also the one who would get her free drinks at the bar he worked at, putting half a dozen of little umbrellas in her glass just to make her smile. That their bickering was more fun than harmful, that she valued his opinion and sought his approval even if she could also fight him on just about everything just for the sake of it. That the tension Raven had commented on _did_ exist, even if Clarke wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it. Bellamy was hot and kind and fun and smart - she kind of envied his passion about History, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his dissertation, how much he loved what he was doing.

It was a stupid, yet not so stupid, comment on one of Octavia's status earlier that day - _Can someone write this stupid essay for me? I'll get @BBlake to bake you cookies and I'll give you a kiss :D_ \- that had led her to spend over two hours on the phone with Bellamy. Clarke had commented, saying that she was offering the same deal because she hated Biology, _ugh_ , and she'd expected Bellamy to say something about them leaving him out of their shenanigans and actually kicking their asses and work. He didn't. All he'd said was _Maybe you shouldn't be a Biology major if you hate it so much, Princess_. No emoji overload like his sister did all the time, no teasing wink, just one of those truths Bellamy dropped like a bomb.

She'd been thinking about it a lot, lately; how she wasn't sure if Medicine was what _she_ really wanted, how fascinating that Art History class Bellamy was taking sounded when he talked about it, or the blank canvas and paints in her closet that Monty had bought her for her birthday that she'd never gotten around to use because of the insane amount of work she had to do.

Clarke hadn't even hesitated when she picked her phone up and called Bellamy. Raven was in class but she could have waited or called anybody else, she knew it, but her first instinct had been _Bellamy_ , like it often was the case lately, too. She'd started rambling before he could even finish his typical _To what do I owe this pleasure, Princess?_ and Bellamy had just listened to her, waiting for her to be out of breath to tell her to _breathe, Clarke, just breathe_. He'd then repeated what he'd said earlier, that if she didn't like it she shouldn't be wasting her time on it, not even to please her mother. There was just something about Bellamy saying that, something that her friends had told her before, too, but that she'd never felt like she could ever find the courage to say to her mom, that just seemed to make a lot more sense coming from him.

Clarke had felt relieved and kind of giddy after they hung up, and it now seemed so stupid that they weren't friends on Facebook, so what if she'd sent a friend request that Bellamy had instantly accepted? It certainly _wasn't_ a good enough reason for Jasper to be _that_ excited.

"It's really no big deal, Jas," Clarke insists. "Like, seriously, who cares?"

"Who cares?" Jasper echoes, his voice a little high-pitched and teasing. "Who cares, you ask, my dear? You're not looking at your Facebook page, right?"

Clarke frowns, turning her attention back to her laptop, and the _what the fuck?_ that escapes her lips makes Jasper laugh like a maniac.

**Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake are now friends. 7mins ago.  
Octavia Blake, Raven Reyes, and 48 others like this.**

**Octavia Blake** : YOU GUYS FINALLY PULLED YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES AND REALIZED YOU LOVED EACH OTHER????? OH GLORY.

**Octavia Blake** : Just kidding, guys. ;) Don't kill me. You love me, remember?!

**Raven Reyes** : Of course you had to choose the one class I absolutely cannot miss to make this kind of announcement, @PrincessClarke. I hate you. Also: about time!!! (also, now can we all agree that you totes changed your name to PrincessClarke because of Bellamy and yet you're only now friends? REALLY?)

**Octavia Blake** : I know, right?! God, why are we friends with such idiots. WHY AM I RELATED TO HALF OF THESE IDIOTS?

**Raven Reyes** : It happens to the best of us, babe.

**Jasper Jordan** : I'M ON THE PHONE WITH CLARKE AND SHE'S ACTING LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL LMAO

**Octavia Blake** : Tell her she's crazy!!! Real talk now: when are we celebrating this? :DDD @RealMonroe and @HipsterHarper, you in???

**Raven Reyes** : I'm in class 'till 7. Meet at Grounders at 9??? @BBlake you better get your best champagne for us!!!!!!!! @YoucancallmeKyle if he asks you to take his shift, say no!!!

**Octavia Blake** : That's Raven's way of saying: please Kyle come over, I want to see your pretty scruffy face. <3 (@RegalReyes, you'll thank me later :DDD)

**Kyle Wick** : I wasn't working tonight but now I'll definitely drop by Grounders. :p Thanks for the invitation, Octavia! ;)

**Jasper Jordan** : I SWEAR GUYS CLARKE'S ALL LIKE "IT'S NO BIG DEAL I JUST REALIZED NOW THAT WE WEREN'T FRIENDS SO I FIXED IT" WHATEVS GURL

**Nathan Miller** : I call bullshit. Also @MightyMonty says congrats, though I don't really see why we're supposed to congratulate these two for acting like normal people?

**Monty Green** : What Nate is not saying is that we're totes cancelling our movie night and we'll see you at Grounders tonight!!! :)

**Octavia Blake** : @BBlake stop pretending you're not there and say something, big bro! ;) :p

**Nathan Miller** : You know your bro, he's probably glaring at his screen.

**Raven Reyes** : Truth. Though our Princess is awfully silent too. @MagicJordan TELL HER TO GET HER ASS OVER HERE AND EXPLAIN HERSELF (@thebestBlake I'LL MAKE YOU PAY, @YoucancallmeKyle you better shave, you're too old for this scruff thing)

**Jasper Jordan** : I JUST TOLD HER AND SHE CURSED IT WAS GLORIOUS LIKE ACTUAL CLARKE GRIFFIN SAID FUCK WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

**Jasper Jordan** : NOW SHE'S PROBS READING

**Jasper Jordan** : SHE'S NOT SAYING ANYTHING @PrincessClarke YOU STILL THERE?????

**Jasper Jordan** : OH SHE'S GIVING ME THE SILENT TREATMENT

**Monty Green** : Or maybe she hung up on you? ;)

**Jasper Jordan** : OH YEAH SHE DID

**Jasper Jordan** : THAT AIN'T NICE CLARKEY I'LL BE AT YOUR DORM IN 10 TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE GETTING YOUR SKINNY ASS IN A NICE DRESS 4 2NITE

**Raven Reyes** : You're a true friend, Jas. Unlike other people.

**Octavia Blake** : Oh come on, babe. :) So it's that kind of night?! I'm totes for it! @MagicJordan and @PrincessClarke, I'll be over too! Bringing some clothes and make-up just in case. @BBlake you better tell Clarke she looks good or I'll slap some sense into you. :D

**Monroe Fisher** : Count me in! I'll text Harper to let her know! Congrats @BBlake and @PrincessClarke!!!!!

**Nathan Miller** : No but seriously, why are we congratulating them? Am I missing something?!

Clarke feels a rush of affection and gratitude for Monty's boyfriend and Bellamy's best friend in that moment - at least there's _one_ rational person out there who isn't freaking out like a school girl over this. Jesus, her friends can be so embarrassing sometimes.

The rush she feels as her eyes land on the next two comments has nothing to do with embarrassment, even though Clarke can feel her cheeks heat up instantly.

**Bellamy Blake** : Didn't know Facebook was the High Authority on Friendship. Where's @CommanderLexa when we need some SciPo input?

**Bellamy Blake** : Also, you can pay for your champagne, you assholes. Free drinks for the Princess only from now on.

Clarke stares at her screen for a long moment, unable to take her eyes away from Bellamy's words. She's being ridiculous now, but she can't help the heat pooling low in her belly which is weird because she remembers when Bellamy used to spit that nickname with venom in his mouth and now it's become this sweet name that seems to roll off his tongue so easily and, okay, she _totally_ did change her username to Princess Clarke because she _loves_ it.

She doesn't get to dwell long on that thought because Jasper and Octavia are furiously knocking on her door moments later, loud chorus of _Clarke, Clarkey, babe, open up!_ that Clarke really wants to ignore but she's too afraid one of their neighbors will call the RA or something. So she reluctantly closes her laptop and opens the door, her friends enveloping her in a big, big hug, and God they're ridiculous but she loves them anyway.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this!" Octavia says excitedly. "I knew it from the start."

Clarke rolls her eyes. "There's _nothing_ to know, though," she tries to argue, but Jasper just shakes his head at her. "I mean, we've been friends for _months_."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Octavia beams, marching to her closet like she's about to wade into war. "My idiotic brother and my idiotic best friend are finally done with pretending all they do is bicker and that they actually like each other plenty enough to be friends on social networks - which means said idiotic brother and best friend will finally have access to each other's pictures, and _yes_ , that includes that very hot picture of you in that tiny bikini," she grins as she winks at Clarke. "This is the _best_ day of my life. Now, let's see what you've got in there," Octavia adds as she goes through Clarke's clothes.

Clarke lets out a sigh before dropping down on her bed, covering her face with her arm. Jasper sits beside her, giving her leg a gentle pat. "Come on," he says in a low voice, though Octavia wouldn't hear him anyway, with the way she's whining loudly about Clarke's lack of proper party clothes. "Don't pretend you're not into spending the night getting free drinks while making heart eyes with your _friend_ ," he nudges her.

"I _don't_ make heart eyes," Clarke groans.

"Sure, whatever," Jasper laughs. "Monty said the same thing before he started going out with Nate, remember?"

Clarke doesn't even have the energy to punch him.

 

* * *

 

Octavia spends an hour forcing her in and out a dozen sparkly dresses and tiny skirts, making comments about how this one dress pushes up her chest just the way it should be pushed up or how she doesn't understand why Clarke's always wearing jeans when she has legs that go on forever. Clarke blushes, Jasper nods along because everything Octavia says is law for him, and Octavia rummages through her own bag of clothes and make-up, her _don't you dare fight me on this_ look on her face as she sits Clarke on her desk chair and starts working on her make-up and hair.

That's how Raven finds them when she finally gets home from class, Clarke dressed in a lacy blue top and a little black skirt, her hair down and wavy, and Octavia adding a third layer of mascara on her lashes. "Wow," Raven breathes, clearly impressed at Octavia's work who sends her a beaming, smug smile. "Are we celebrating the fact that these two idiots are finally friends or trying to get Clarke in Bellamy's bed? Because it's _not_ gonna take a lot of trying, trust me," she whistles as she slumps down onto the bed next to Jasper.

"We'll be lucky if they even reach the storage room, to be honest," Jasper chuckles.

"Hey!" Clarke protests. "Can we _not_ do this, guys?! There's nothing going on between Bellamy and I."

"Yeah, right," Octavia laughs, tipping her chin up with her fingers as she applies a pale pink shade on her lips. "I know my brother, okay? And those heart eyes he's sending you all the time kind of prove our point, babe."

"See? I was right about the heart eyes!" Jasper butts in, and Raven ruffles his hair like he's an idiot but still a good boy.

"And the hours-long conversations on Facebook _without_ even being friends," Raven adds. "I'm not even talking about the _real-life_ hours-long conversations because sometimes it's just embarrassing to watch you two go at it."

"Are we ever gonna talk about the Halloween incident, guys?" Octavia says, and Clarke starts opening her mouth to protest but Octavia shushes her. "You, don't move. I'm turning you into a masterpiece," she commands her, before she turns her attention back to Raven and Jasper. "How Bellamy spent a good fifteen minutes telling Clarke everything that was historically wrong with her Cleopatra costume, before realizing that they were dressed as Cleopatra and Antony?"

"Talk about fate," Jasper says dreamily.

"Talk about the Cleopatra costume being the last one at the store, and your brother being a history nerd," Clarke scoffs, trying to be dismissive about it like it's not something that turns her on at all. "Why are we not talking about the _real_ couple here?" she adds, nodding at Raven. "Wick's gonna be there tonight."

Clarke's thankful for Octavia and Jasper's easy nature and the way they seamlessly focus on Raven's love life instead of her own. Raven glares at her as the two keep asking question after question, prodding until she admits that, _okay_ , she does find Wick hot but he's also a little puppy who wants something real and after the whole He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named debacle, Raven doesn't want a boyfriend just yet and Wick's not the kind of guy to be okay with a one-night only thing. _So_. Puppies are cute and Raven usually loves puppies but _Kyle puppy Wick_ is out of question, end of story.

Octavia still manages to make her put on one of these super sexy black dresses that are made for girls like Raven, all long limbs and generous curves, and Jasper just slouches on Clarke's bed, suddenly regretting his decision to hang out with three girls even if one of them is his precious Octavia. Sometimes his devotion for the younger Blake kind of makes Clarke sad because it's obvious that Octavia doesn't return his feelings (however shallow Jasper's feelings might be) - especially since she's started outrageously flirting with one of Bellamy's colleagues at Grounders - but she's not too worried because she's been keeping an eye on her Facebook notifications and Harper's bringing one of her friends, Maya, and Jasper has a weakness for pretty, sweet girls.

And, _okay_ , maybe she's been checking her phone to see if Bellamy had added anything else, or texted her, and he hasn't and she's okay with it, _really_. Their friends are ridiculous and she's half surprised he hasn't blocked them all already because Bellamy's too old for stupid teenage fangirling; and what's there to add anyway? They'll be off to the bar in less than an hour: Octavia and Jasper will probably make embarrassing speeches, Monty will send her sympathetic looks, and then everything will go back to normal with Raven stealing her free drinks while gazing longingly at Wick, Octavia making out with Lincoln the bartender, and Bellamy joining them when his shift's over. Nothing's changed, so there's no reason to make such a fuss about it.

She's not nervous at all when they finally head out to the bar. _Nope_. And she definitely doesn't melt when she spots Bellamy behind the bar counter and meets his gaze and his eyes are warm and laughing as he raises an amused eyebrow at her, like he's saying _this is on you, Princess_ , and then she's laughing too. She returns the gesture with a wave of her hand before Raven pushes her to their usual booth and Clarke gets squeezed in between Harper and Monty, which is by far the safest spot tonight because these two might be the only _sane_ people in their group.

Monty gives her hand an apologetic squeeze. "Sorry my best friend's crazy," he says, leaning in to speak in her ear.

Clarke just gives him a shrug. "Octavia's the one acting like we got engaged or something. Jas isn't any better, though. He thought I had hooked up with Bellamy."

"Yeah, because _that's_ such a terrible thought, huh?" Monty sasses her, and, wait, stop a minute; since when does Monty Green _sass_ anybody, especially her? He must see the confusion flicker in her eyes because he starts chuckling. "Come on, Clarke. You think we're blind or something? You've got it _bad_."

"Do not," Clarke denies stubbornly. "Traitor," she murmurs under her breath, because damn, she thought Monty was neutral. Instead, he's teasing her, and she hates it because he's right. Damn idiotic genius friend.

Monty at least pretends to look a little apologetic as he bumps her shoulder with his. "If it's any consolation, Bellamy looks at you the same way. Like, even when you two played at who's gonna yell the loudest. You're the two dumbest smart people I know, for real," he chuckles.

Clarke sighs loudly, because she remembers those first weeks clearly, how everything turned into a sparring match with Bellamy; she'd paid for Octavia's ticket at the movies once and Bellamy had all but shoved bills in her pocket later, saying he could give his sister everything she needed, _thank you very much, Princess_. But Clarke also remembers how his eyes would sometimes drift down to her lips in the midst of these heated arguments, or hers with his, and there's _always_ been a spark, she can't deny it. It's the same rush of electricity she feels now when they bicker and tease each other; the same comfortable warmth she feels whenever he's around.

Clarke shakes her head lightly and Harper pushes a beer in front of her with a sympathetic gaze. She likes Harper - she's quiet and nice and fun, and she doesn't seem to be about to start a speech so she's just about Clarke's favorite person tonight. She accepts the drink gladly, looking up in time to see Octavia thank Lincoln for their first round of drinks with one of these seductive, almost feral Blake grins she's seen on both siblings.

(They do _not_ talk about Halloween and Bellamy flirting and hooking up with that girl - what's her name again? Paris, London? some city, whatever - because Antony is totally allowed to make out with some stupid warrior princess if he wants to, historical accuracy be damned. Like, _really_ , Clarke isn't bitter about it at all.)

And then Octavia raises her cup, and Clarke wants to hide because this promises to be the most embarrassing moment of her life. She feels her phone ring in her purse almost instantly, and she breathes a sigh of relief when she sees Bellamy's name flashing on the screen. _Sorry my sister's crazy. I swear I raised her better than that_ , the text says. Clarke looks up over at the bar, and though Bellamy's already taking another client's order, she can see the grin on his lips.

"Okay, guys, a little attention here," Octavia starts, "and that includes you two lovebirds," she adds for Raven and Wick who spend a ridiculous amount of time flirting - well, if the heated gaze in Wick's eyes when he tells her _let's get our stoichiometry on_ is called flirting in the world of mechanics and engineering - for something that definitely won't happen according to Raven. "Okay. I'm not good with speeches, that's Bell's thing, but that's okay because nobody wants to listen to me talk for hours like he does whenever we watch a movie and _Jesus Christ, did these idiots even do any research, the Hasburgs so didn't wear that_ ," she says, mimicking her brother's voice and exasperated tone, and it's spot-on because if there's anything that angers Bellamy more than Clarke being a little rich girl, it's probably inaccurate historical movies. "Anyway. When I was a kid, I didn't have a lot of friends," Octavia confesses, and Clarke frowns a little because Octavia's such a social butterfly, it's hard to imagine her as a lonely little girl. "I hardly ever left the house because I was sick all the time and missing school a lot, so Bell was my best friend. He stayed home with me and did all the embarrassing stuff that big brothers hate doing, and there's a story or two that I'll _definitely_ share some other night - and you're in them, too!" she winks at Nate. "My point is, my brother might be a jerk and a dork and a nerd," she says with such fondness in her voice as she tilts her head to look at Bellamy across the room, "but he's the most important person in the world and he means everything to me. We're kind of a take it or leave it package," she laughs. "Which is _why_ things got a little complicated when we got here and my new best friend and brother decided to hate each other."

Clarke pinches the ridge of her nose. "In all honesty, that barely lasted a few weeks. And I wouldn't call that _hatred_ \- more like a deep disliking of everything the other was," she tries to be funny, but Octavia's just frowning at her like she's the worst storyteller ever.

"My story," the younger Blake just dismisses her with a little smile. "Anyway, we're gonna skip that part because you were all there to see them go at it all day every day," she chuckles, earning nods of approval from everybody - even from Monty, who definitely is on Clarke's list of traitors now, or Wick who actually _wasn't_ there but nods anyway. "Now they're friends and -"

"Have been for months," Clarke interjects between two sips of her beer.

Octavia just goes on. "And they're gonna spam our timelines with ridiculous arguments about whatever it is they like arguing about because they're dorks but they're _my_ dorks and I love them and now they love each other too and - don't even fight me on this, Princess Clarke," she raises a finger at Clarke when she opens her mouth, and Clarke immediately closes it because, _okay_ , maybe she kind of had it coming. "So, to these two dumb dorks strengthening their relationship through the bond of Facebook, I hereby declare you officially friends. You may go get our free drinks and your man."

Jasper whoops and Octavia beams at him and Clarke feels like banging her head against the table; Raven gives her a smirk, smug and snarky and sassy, before she tilts her head to the bar insistently - her friends are just the _worst,_ she swears. Sighing loudly, Clarke throws her hands in the air before she nudges at Monty to get off the booth; she decidedly ignores their stares and happy grins as she makes her way to the bar, chin up and smile on.

The appreciative look Bellamy gives her as she takes a seat at a stool is _worth_ it.

"Looking good, Princess," he says simply but his gaze no less heated, and Clarke knows he must say that to all the girls but she feels her skin flush anyway.

Linking her fingers together, she rests her chin atop her hands. "I'll tell Octavia you appreciate her work," she grins easily.

Bellamy lets out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head lightly. "I'm sorry for the embarrassment that O is sometimes. If it's any consolation, she used to practice on me too."

Clarke can't help it - she lets a loud, girly, ridiculous giggle out because she can just envision it so easily, a younger Octavia giving Bellamy her best puppy look until he'd cave in and agree to be her doll. Octavia could charm anyone into doing anything, really. "Now _that's_ a story I want to hear. Remind me to ask Octavia later."

Bellamy just rolls his eyes, before leaning his elbows on the counter, his eyes level with hers, his face so close she can count the freckles on his cheeks. "Anyway. What can I get you, Princess?"

The way he says _Princess_ is probably her favorite Bellamy noise, sultry and husky but sweet, too, and Clarke berates herself for having such thoughts because they're friends, _dammit_ , and friends are not supposed to sound sultry and husky and sweet because it's a recipe for trouble. She doesn't look away though, doesn't back down from a challenge; instead she licks at her lips as she thinks, never missing the way Bellamy's eyes drop to her mouth, following the motion of her tongue.

(Yeah, because friends do _that_ , right.)

"Depends," Clarke finally shrugs after a moment. "When's your shift over?"

"Eleven. Octavia arranged for Murphy to finish my shift, don't ask me _how_ or _why_ my sister has all the bartenders' numbers. Why?" Bellamy asks, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Well," Clarke starts, mirroring his position as she crosses her arms over the counter and leans in, and she hears Octavia's voice in her head saying _Good job_ , "it wouldn't be fair to start on the champagne without half of the guests of honor, now, would it?"

Bellamy laughs, good-natured and amused, before he picks up a glass and puts it in front of her, immediately adding three little umbrellas in it. "You'd think we got engaged or something," he chuckles as he pours her a drink.

Clarke hides her blush in her hair as she turns around to look over at their friends. They need to stop that, too, this whole thing about thinking and saying the same things - Octavia spends already enough time talking about how alike they can be no matter how much they (well, _mostly_ Clarke in the beginning, not so much now to be honest) protest about it. "Don't give them ideas," she laughs as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Bellamy replies softly, and Clarke turns back to him a little abruptly, her blonde waves swirling around her head as she does. He pats her hand. "Look, I gotta stop Murphy before he offers to do body shots with that girl over there. Be right back, okay?"

His tone is hesitant, so she gives him a nod of her head and a smile. "Go, duty calls. I'll be waiting."

He rolls his eyes and Clarke watches him go, her eyes focusing on the span of his broad shoulders beneath his tee, the way she can see the muscles flex as he throws an arm around Murphy and drags him away from the girl he was flirting with, and she has to avert her gaze before all her mind can think of is how the white of the fabric is such a delicious contrast to his tanned skin.

Raven and Wick are still living in their own little bubble when her eyes land on them, and Clarke wonders how long it'll take before Raven stops letting the shadow of what happened linger and keep her from being happy; it's so obvious that she _likes_ Wick, like, _a lot_. Jasper and Monty are showing one of their tricks to the girls, and Maya seems to find it far more impressive than it actually is, and Jasper's beaming. Octavia's dragged Nate to dance, who looks equally awkward and terrified as she grabs his hand and uses it to make herself twirl as he just stands there and watches her with big, wide eyes. Their eyes lock over the throng of people and he looks helpless, and Clarke just grins at him.

"Remind me to tell you the story of O forcing Nate to take her to prom," she hears Bellamy chuckle, and when Clarke turns around on her seat he's back and he's slid on the other side of the counter, sitting on the stool beside hers, a glass of Coke in front of him. "Lincoln and Murphy said they could handle the bar for a little while."

"Oh," Clarke says, a smile tugging at her lips as she raises her glass. "Time to celebrate, then?"

Bellamy raises his own glass, clinking it against hers. "Maybe we can celebrate you choosing to do what you want instead of being the good girl you always have to be?" he suggests, and though he's smiling his eyes are serious but no less warm, and there's a spark in them Clarke doesn't dare call _pride_ but that looks a lot like it.

She feels her skin flushing again, but she forces herself to look him in the eye. "You think I should drop pre-med, don't you?" she asks, and Clarke doesn't know _why_ his opinion is so important to her but she _needs_ to hear him say what he thinks anyway.

Bellamy shrugs. "It doesn't matter what I think. It just matters that you're asking yourself that question instead of just doing what somebody else wants you to do," he replies like it's so simple and maybe it _is_ , in a way. Bellamy would know; no one believed he could take care of his sister and he successfully managed to put them both through college, _so_. He knows a thing or two about defying expectations. "If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. If you want to paint or draw when you've got time, do it. But if you want to take art classes or teach kids one day or be one of these artists who live in their studio, _do it_. Just stop thinking about what everyone wants. Just do what _you_ want."

Clarke drops her gaze to her glass, tracing the rim of it with her finger. "My mom's not gonna like it," she admits quietly, and she's not sure Bellamy's heard her with the noise and music blasting around them until his fingers touch her wrist, just a brief, fleeting gesture.

"Your mom can't decide the way you should live your life for you, Clarke," he says just as softly, and maybe it's the confidence in his tone or the way he says her name that makes her lift her head up to meet his eyes again. "And nobody's asking you to have it all figured out. You're young, you've got plenty of time for that."

It's in times like these that Clarke remembers vividly that Bellamy's not a kid, not like them, but a grown man; that he's _twenty-three_ , and that he's always been his sister's keeper since the day she was born. That he had to step up and take all the weight on his six year-old shoulders because their dad ( _dads_? Octavia said once she'd never known hers and that Bellamy never talked about his, but she was drunk and sad and Clarke's never dared ask about it) wasn't there; that he had to do it again after their mom died. She gets why his big brother act can annoy Octavia, but at the same time, it's also who Bellamy _is_ \- he's the caretaker, the protector, the one who gently scolds them when they don't study and makes sure they all get home safe when they've spent the night at the bar. Sometimes he sounds like he's a hundred years old and somehow, he is, and that's something Clarke's learned to appreciate. She wouldn't be having this conversation with anyone but him.

She rests her elbow on the counter and her head on it, tilting her face to look up at him from beneath her lashes. "I think being a doctor made sense because that's what my mom's always wanted for me and I know how much it means to her. But..." She bites on her lip, giving herself a moment to think of how to phrase it, and she's grateful for Bellamy's silent presence, how he doesn't push and just waits. "I don't _love_ it. I could be good at it if I worked hard, I know that, and some of it is fascinating, but I don't love it. Not the way I love painting or drawing. Not the way I can watch the sunset and think of my paints back home and how I'd have to mix them to get just the right shade. But at the same time, I don't know if that's what I want to _do_ , like, every day. If I want that to be my job, something I have to do and not just something I do when I want." Clarke sighs, a little frustrated with herself, because she's torn between giving it all up and being the good girl she's always been told to be, and maybe these aren't the only options but it's already hard to choose between the two. "Does that make any sense?" she asks.

Bellamy gives her a smile. "Sure it does. You're _eighteen_ , Clarke. You have the right not to know. Hell, _I_ didn't know what I wanted to do with my life when I was eighteen."

Clarke's eyes grow wide, surprise sparking in the deep blue. "You always look like you've got it all figured out," she says. "The way you talk, the way you juggle with two jobs and classes like - I don't know, like it's so easy."

"It's easy because I love it," Bellamy explains with a shrug, and that's something she's noticed about him a lot, how he's always shrugging especially when someone's giving him a compliment. "It doesn't mean it always was, and that's okay, too. I learned that eventually." He gives her a warm smile, his fingers reaching her hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze before Bellamy takes a look around. "Look, I've gotta go back now. Murphy's already doing me a favor, but we can talk later if you want?" he asks, that hesitant tone back.

She can't help reaching out for his hand, her fingers locking around his wrist and it's for the best probably or else she'd let them wander to his face to rub at that frown between his brows until it's smoothed out, and she _can't_ have that. "I think the guys are pretty serious about that champagne and I'm sure Jasper's gonna make some embarrassing speech," she chuckles, "but I'd love to, okay?" she reassures him. "I - I don't have class 'till one tomorrow, so, maybe we could have lunch, or -"

Bellamy shakes his head, his teeth digging in his bottom lip. "I can't. I've got my Art History class from eleven to one. What about tomorrow night? Dinner?" he suggests, and the light is crappy in the bar so Clarke's not sure but she _thinks_ that she can spot the faintest blush creeping up his cheeks.

It sure mirrors the heat she feels flushing her pale skin again and that she can't blame on one beer and a tequila sunrise. "Yeah, sure. Sounds good," she nods, a little too vigorously. "Anyway. I - I'll see you in a bit, okay?" she adds as she slides off her stool, playing with one of her little umbrellas to keep her fingers busy.

He takes it from her, plucking it in her hair behind her ear. "See you in a bit, Princess," he says, tilting his head to the side a little when she doesn't turn around and walk away immediately.

She refuses to look over her shoulder when she finally does, because she knows Bellamy and the cocky smirk that must be tugging at his lips now - something very similar to the stupid, smug grin on Raven's face who dares _wink_ at her as she drops beside her, Wick easily turning his attention to Monty to give them some privacy, the girls and Jasper having joined Octavia and a flushed Nate among the crowd of dancing people. "Did you two get lost in the storage room or something?" she teases, wriggling her eyebrows at Clarke who just glares at her in return. "Oh, come on, Griffin. Lighten up!" Raven says as she throws a lazy arm over Clarke's shoulders, leaning in a little so they can keep their conversation private. "You two looked pretty cozy."

"I could say the same thing about you and _Kyle_ ," Clarke counters easily, and she feels a little smug when Raven narrows her eyes at her because Raven Reyes _doesn't_ blush, so it's the next big thing proving that Clarke's right. "We were just talking, Raven." Raven's eyes are fixed on her, studying her - that's Raven, the analyst, the brains, who sees enigmas and riddles in people and can't help wanting to solve them, and Clarke usually likes to believe she has a good poker face but she doesn't, at least not with her friend. "Okay, fine. We're having dinner together tomorrow night," she confesses.

She expects Raven to jump on the occasion to say _I told you so_ , like Jasper or Octavia would, but she doesn't and Clarke's argument of _but just as friends_ dies on her lips. "That's good," Raven just says before pressing a loud peck on her cheek. "I've got a question, though."

Clarke rolls her eyes - it was too good to be true. "Of course you do."

Raven just grins. "Where are our drinks?"

 

* * *

 

By the time Bellamy's shift ends, everybody's pretty much forgotten what they're celebrating, or that they're even celebrating anything. Octavia's taken advantage of Clarke forgetting about getting them drinks to go flirt with Lincoln, and Jasper's too busy making heart eyes at Maya to notice anything else; and since these two were the instigators of this little get-together, the rest of the night goes pretty smoothly - and for that Clarke is thankful.

Because, _okay_ , maybe she's spent an hour and a half thinking about Bellamy, their little heart-to-heart and the fact that he's the one she goes to when she's lost but that she also wants him to be part of the people she goes to when she's happy. About that dinner, and whether or not she should put her hair up or keep it down or if he's going to wear a nice shirt because Bellamy's the kind of guy who wakes up with his hair in a mess and who thinks that's style, so, _yeah_. And then she's berated herself again because Bellamy probably wasn't giving it that much thought and maybe all he wanted was to talk over mac and cheese and she's been letting Octavia and Jasper and Raven and Monty get in her head and that's _never_ a good thing.

So, yeah - Clarke's grateful when Bellamy slides in the booth next to her and nobody's actively trying to make it awkward by toasting to their newly official friendship. When it's time to call it a night and go home (Jasper has a 8AM class he's forgotten and will hate himself for tomorrow when he wakes up), there are kisses on cheeks and half-hugs and promises to do this again soon as they separate and pile up in different cabs. Octavia's already drifting asleep on the backseat of Bellamy's car; Raven gushes over Wick's, an old thing that looks like it could die any moment to Clarke but that apparently holds her favorite mechanic's interest, enough for her not to be staring at them as they say goodbye.

If there's one thing Clarke's learned very early on, it's that the Blakes are really into hugs and kisses on the forehead, all kinds of little things that show just how much they care about each other. It's a privilege they extend to people they're close to, Nate in particular who gets cuddles from Octavia and real brotherly hugs from Bellamy; but overall the Blake siblings are just as warm as they can be intense, and everybody's gotten a squeeze of the hand or a bone-crushing hug by now. It's not until she's leaning against Bellamy's car, watching him tuck his jacket carefully between Octavia's head and the window, his fingers gently brushing her hair away from his sister's face, that Clarke realizes she's a little nervous now.

If Bellamy's nervous, he doesn't show it. He doesn't hesitate as he wraps an arm around her neck and pulls her close, and okay, he's hugged her fully once before, on Christmas when she got him that book he'd been looking for years, and his hand always lingers somewhere, warm and comforting, but this feels a lot more intimate as she feels his lips press a single, soft kiss to the crown of her hair. _That's_ something he usually does with his sister only. He pulls away quickly, a small smile on his lips that Clarke reciprocates, a little dazed from a proximity she's not used to with him - they bicker more than they do anything else, after all. They separate with the promise of texting each other when they get home, and Clarke leaves with Raven and Wick who's offered to drive them home.

She's kicking off her shoes and dropping her purse on her bed when her phone rings. _You home safe?_

Clarke smiles - it's just like Bellamy to know how long it had to take them to get home before texting, and getting the time exactly right. She types her reply as she goes to the bathroom, longing for the soft cotton of her PJs. _Raven and Wick kept flirting in a language I didn't understand. Super weird. Making out right now._

His answer is immediate, and Clarke barks a laugh as she reads it: _Kinky_.

She types a quick reply, _Typical_ , before tossing her phone on the counter to scrub at her face, mascara stains rolling down the drain. She hears her phone ring again, but she works on untangling the knots in her wavy hair first and getting in her soft, warm PJs at long last. When she emerges from the bathroom, Raven's still not there but she can hear her muffled giggles - since when does Raven _giggle_? - coming from the hallway and Clarke is smiling as she gets in bed and finally reads Bellamy's reply. _O fell face down on her bed, heels and raccoon eyes. She had time to mumble she had fun, so thank you for that_.

She can't help teasing him a little. _I think it has a lot more to do with Lincoln, tbh. ;)_

Getting more comfortable in her bed, Clarke turns on her side and slips a hand beneath her cheek. Her eyelids are heavy - Octavia's a firecracker and she's always dragging her to parties and Clarke loves partying, sure, but she likes having to get up early in the morning to go to class a lot less after she's spent the night drinking and dancing until she couldn't feel her feet anymore; she's almost drifting off to sleep when Bellamy finally replies - and it's one of these long speeches that kind of defies the very purpose of text messaging but that's _so Bellamy_ at the same time. _Don't wink at me, Clarke Griffin. I'd rather not think about that. Ever. Anyway. O loves you. You're good for her. I tried to be her brother and her dad and everything and that wasn't a good idea, and now she has you and the guys and I can see the difference. She smiles more. She has people she can talk to when she doesn't want to tell me. People who really love her even when she kind of goes crazy like tonight, and that's all I've ever wanted for her. So, take some credit, Princess._

Clarke's glad that Raven's still out because she can feel her skin flushing again. She's still exhausted, a yawn escaping her lips, but she feels warm, too. _You know, I think_ _I like you a lot more now that we're friends :)_ , she types.

She can picture him rolling his eyes at her easily in his reply, that fond exasperation Bellamy always seems to bear. _Likewise. Night, Princess_.

_Night, Bell_.

 

* * *

 

**Clarke Griffin. 15mins ago.**  
_I'd like to personally thank Jesus for shrimp and @BBlake. :D_ \- with Bellamy Blake at The Dropship.   
Octavia Blake, Kyle Wick, and 18 others like this.

**Jasper Jordan** : HE TOOK YOU TO THE DROPSHIP??????

**Jasper Jordan** : HE TOOK HER TO THE DROPSHIP OH MY GOD

**Jasper Jordan** : WAIT WHAT YOU TWO ARE HAVING DINNER TOGETHER @RegalReyes @thebestBlake WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME

**Raven Reyes** : Because you're hyperventilating like a school girl?

**Octavia Blake** : My own brother and best friend going out for dinner without telling me... I AM SO HAPPY :DDD

**Octavia Blake** : But I'm super pissed I wasn't told tho 'cause I didn't get to see what @BBlake was wearing and that dork can't tie a knot to save his life. SOMEBODY SEND THE FASHION POLICE TO SAVE @PrincessClarke FROM THE EMBARRASSMENT.

**Jasper Jordan** : NO BUT IMAGINE CLARKE AND BELLAMY BEING ALL FANCY. BELLAMY PULLING CLARKE'S CHAIR OUT FOR HER. ACTUAL PRINCESS CLARKE GRIFFIN GOING OUT TO THE FANCIEST RESTAURANT IN MOUNT WEATHER CITY WITH HER KNIGHT. I CAN'T EVEN.

**Raven Reyes** : Jas, you really need to get laid so you don't spend that much time obsessing over Clarke and Bellamy.

**Octavia Blake** : Yeah, Jas. Raven would know. :P

**Raven Reyes** : Raven is also gonna kick your ass, @thebestBlake.

**Monty Green** : Someone explain to me how this went from Clarke sharing her love for shrimp to everybody's sex life?

**Octavia Blake** : You got a point.

**Jasper Jordan** : GOING BACK TO WHAT REALLY MATTERS HERE WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE EXCITED ABOUT THIS

**Jasper Jordan** : LIKE FOR REAL YOU GUYS SUCK

**Jasper Jordan** : I'VE CALLED IT SINCE THE DAY CLARKE SAID IT WAS A SHAME BELLAMY WAS SUCH AN ASS BECAUSE HE WAS TOO HOT TO BE TRUE

**Jasper Jordan** : AND THAT WAS THE DAY THEY MET TRUE STORY

**Jasper Jordan** : STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM NOW WE'RE HERE

**Clarke Griffin** : @thebestBlake, I'm kinda digging the messy hair and loose tie thing your brother's got going on. @MagicJordan BELLAMY PULLED OUT MY CHAIR AND SEDUCED ME OVER CHAMPAGNE AND SHRIMP AND NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT OUR FUTURE

**Bellamy Blake** : And we'd like you to be little Antony and Cleopatra's godfather.

**Clarke Griffin** : BELL BELL BABE WE AGREED TO KEEP THE NAMES A SURPRISE

**Bellamy Blake** : SORRY BAE I GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER ONE

**Clarke Griffin** : <333

**Jasper Jordan** : You think you're funny but you're really not.

**Monty Green** : That was actually hilarious.

**Octavia Blake** : The worst part about this is that Bell's enough of a nerd to actually name his kids like that. MY POOR NIECES AND NEPHEWS.

**Raven Reyes** : The best part about this is that Bellamy's seen Clarke eat shrimp and still loves her.

**Monty Green** : The best thing about this is Jasper's reaction.

**Octavia Blake** : True.

**Clarke Griffin** : I second that.

**Bellamy Blake** : Me too. We're so cute @PrincessClarke. <3

**Raven Reyes** : I think the best thing about this is imagining these two idiots laughing over how damn funny they think they are.

**Clarke Griffin** : We're pretty funny, you've got to admit it.

**Octavia Blake** : And here they are saying *we*.

**Bellamy Blake** : That's usually how two people refer to themselves.

**Jasper Jordan** : I hate y'all.

 

* * *

 

" _So_ ," he starts as he's walking her home, hands tucked in his pockets and a lazy smile tugging at his lips, the perfect picture of nonchalance, "tonight was nice."

"I have to admit that getting us a table at the Dropship _definitely_ sold the deal," Clarke smiles, still more than a little impressed. "You're not gonna tell me how you managed that, huh?" Bellamy shakes his head no, cocky grin on his lips. She reaches out though, her fingers hidden inside the long sleeves of the jacket he's draped over her shoulders wrapping around his wrist for a brief second. "You didn't _have_ to, though. You know that?"

Bellamy just rolls his eyes - a little exasperated but still fond, like he could argue but won't because it's _her_ , so instead he just turns his palm a little until he's loosely holding her hand and it's such a natural fit, his big, warm hand enveloping her much smaller one. "As if I was gonna take the Princess out for a pizza or something," he chuckles.

"Well, this Princess likes pizza, _too_ ," Clarke just shrugs, bumping her hip to his as they keep walking, "so, _yeah_ , next time we can just hang out and have pizza and watch Netflix all night, okay?"

"Next time, huh?"

There's no arrogance in his tone, nothing like the voice he uses with girls at parties, and the little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth is small but genuine so Clarke just twines her fingers more tightly around his. "Well, tonight was nice, sure. I bet we can do _great_ , though," she says with a little shrug.

Bellamy laughs. "Only you," he says through his grin, "only you would make going out a competition."

"You complaining?" she challenges because that's who they _are_ , constantly riling each other up and Bellamy's gotten under her skin since the day they met.

"No." His voice is deep and low, just above a whisper as he pauses in his tracks, gently tugging at her hand to pull her closer before he lifts his free hand to her face, his fingers brushing her cheek on their way to tangling in her hair by her ear. "Tell me I'm not reading this all wrong," he murmurs, his warm breath tickling her face and sending shivers through her.

Clarke shakes her head, coyly biting at her bottom lip before she rises on her tiptoes and grabs his tie, lightly tugging at it to make Bellamy duck his head down to her. She's seen him with girls before, charming and confident and cocky, so it comes as a surprise - a nice one - when she feels his fingers twitch in her hair as she presses her lips against his, just a soft, gentle kiss that lasts all but a few seconds before she feels him sigh her name against her mouth, hot and breathy and _perfect_. Clarke almost feels proud for making smooth Bellamy Blake lose his precious cool for a split second but then he's tugging his hand free from hers and cradling her face, his eyes dark and hooded as he crushes his mouth to hers and kisses her back in earnest this time, and _she's_ the one who forgets how to breathe.

She grabs at his shirt for balance, her fingers curling around the fabric at the front, crumpling it in tight fists when Bellamy sucks her lower lip into his mouth; the wet slide of his tongue against it is enough to make her gasp, and it turns into a little moan as he deepens the kiss and his tongue slips in, and _God_ , it's embarrassing how quickly he's making her lose control. There's heat coiling low in her belly, and her hands shift to his waist, his belt, and all Clarke wants to do is untuck his shirt from his pants and run her fingers over his skin, feel the muscles in his abdomen clench at her touch, press her fingers to the dip at the small of his back and run them up and down his spine.

She _wants_.

Bellamy laughs against her mouth as he pulls back a little, skin flushed and eyes darker than ever. "Yeah, me too," he says, and _dammit, of course_ _she said that out loud, you go Griffin_. He knows what she's thinking just from the deepening red tinting her cheeks, _of course he does_ , but Bellamy just leans his forehead against hers, grinning like a fool. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," he murmurs quietly.

Clarke wants to _ask_. There was this kiss on New Year's Eve when they were all laughing about Jasper's face after Octavia, loud and tipsy and giggling, had pressed a peck to his lips and wished him a happy new year, and then they had all felt merry and a little drunk. Nate had grabbed Monty's face and kissed him full on the mouth, and all of a sudden Bellamy's arm was slung around her neck and she thinks he aimed for her cheek but she'd tilted her head and _it_ happened so quickly Clarke doesn't even remember the feel of his mouth against hers. What she _does_ remember, though, is how her lips tingled for hours in the aftermath; how she kept thinking about it for a whole week, and how she couldn't look at Bellamy without wanting to try again. So, _yeah_ , maybe _that's_ when she started looking at him _like that_ \- Clarke feels herself flushing again at how ridiculous he makes her. "Yeah," she replies dumbly, and Bellamy laughs again. "Would've probably done that since day one if you hadn't been such a jerk."

Bellamy rolls his eyes and then he lets go of her face, only to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, I know. Such a shame I was an ass because I'm too hot to be true, right?" he snickers as he presses a kiss on her temple.

She lets it go, _just this once_ , because damn, it's _true_.

(He apologizes at her door, whispering in her ear that he'll make it up to her with pizza, Netflix, and a solid forty-eight hours in his bed.

Raven _knows_ just from one look at her flushed cheeks.)

 

* * *

 

**Clarke Griffin updated her Work and Education. 22mins ago.**  
Studies Fine Arts at Mount Weather University.  
Bellamy Blake, Monty Green, and 12 others like this.

**Raven Reyes** : More like "Clarke Griffin made out with Bellamy Blake at the back of his Art History class and realized that the class was nice and decided to stay." :P

**Octavia Blake** : SO PROUD OF YOU BABE!!!!!!!

**Monty Green** : You go, Clarke! :D

**Raven Reyes** : I'm proud too, that goes without saying. :)

**Jasper Jordan** : Please don't do any Bellamy nudes. I SAW ENOUGH. I'M SCARRED FOR LIFE.

**Bellamy Blake** : That's what you get for not knocking, Jordan.

**Bellamy Blake** : Also: I'm so proud of you for taking chances and daring and following your dreams, brave princess. <3

**Clarke Griffin** : Thanks, guys! This is both thrilling and scary so thank you so much for the support. <3 And @BBlake? Come to my studio later. We should talk about nude aesthetics. :D

**Raven Reyes** : Am I being sexiled? I think I'm being sexiled.

**Jasper Jordan** : You guys are SO GROSS.

 

* * *

 

**_the end_ **


End file.
